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General Motors Sees A Culture Change Occurring Inside Its Operations

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General Motors is slowly, but surely, beginning to unstitch the scarlet letter attached to its name following the massive ignition-switch recall, plaguing millions of GM vehicles. This is apparent after James Bell, GM Head of Consumer Affairs, sat down with The Buffalo Newsbefore speaking at GM’s Tonawanda Engine facility.

“We have a term inside the company: we’re draining the swamp,” Bell said. “Just cleaning out the problem, dredging and clearing, and starting fresh. General Motors has been on that track for some time.”

Under CEO Mary Barra, GM has removed employees tied to the ignition-switch scandal, and set up a positive working environment, which includes the “Speak Up For Safety” program, launched in 2014. The program encourages employees to voice their opinions on safety, and rewards them for catching safety glitches before product reaches consumers.

“We have a whole new system in place that says, ‘Look we want to know, no retribution, you wouldn’t be reassigned or anything dire,’ ” Bell said. “We want to know what things are, so we can solve it well before it becomes anything that makes it out to a consumer.”

All of these attributes work to create the automaker’s self-described culture change, and Bell made it clear GM is looking at the future through a fresh pair of eyes.

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— Sean Szymkowski

Sean is a lead staff writer for GM Authority. The words above are fueled by passion and large amounts of caffeine. Find him on Instagram: @helloimseann

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1 Comment

I have see a lot of culture change from the outside. Things I never thought I would see them do are now being done. The work started by Lutz has carried on after he left. I was worried the old school would try to take back their ground.

To be honest in some ways I think the Ignition deal was the major factor is shutting down the old school people around GM. Many are gone or have gone silent since.

As Lutz said about those in charge of GM today they are the people who are not the problem. They still have a lot of work to do but they are progressing steadily. At least the who way of thinking has changed and that will help complete the job.